RMT WOMEN’S CONFERENCE

RMT helpline 0800 376 3706 :: march 2020 :: RMTnews 18 L ooming large on the agenda of this year’s women’s conference in Barrow-in-Furness was a survey conducted by the women’s advisory committee. The survey which engaged 1,978 members, approximately 15 per cent of female membership, focused on how best female workers can engage with and participate in the union. The biggest bulk of respondents were stations/ticket office/revenue protection (30.60 per cent) and traincrew/on train (30.20 per cent), and 95.94 per cent were permanently employed. Nearly 7 out of 10 of respondents received information about RMT from their rep (67.14 per cent), while 59.84 per cent through text messages, 46.77 per cent through the union’s journal RMT News and 46.61 per cent through speaking to other members. 42.24 per cent of workers thought they received enough information to follow the union’s activities, while 36.14 per cent disagreed. More mixed results came from whether female members have attended RMT events. Only 10.95 per cent of women said they regularly attended workplace meetings, while a similar number (11.28 per cent) had regularly attended branch meetings. Less than 10 per cent of female members said that they regularly attend RMT picket lines (7.15 per cent), demonstrations (2.64 per cent). and women-only RMT meetings (1.31 per cent). The most common reason that respondents gave was time pressures (33.87 per cent), while timing problems (33.51 per RMT WOMEN’S CONFERENCE Barrow-in- Furness RMT branch host the union’s annual women’s conference